"I would just like to thank the comrades for their inputs which have
done so much to empower people like us at the conference. The DSM’s
ideas give us the power to stand up and fight back against what is
happening in the country. It was an honour to attend your conference".
So said a working class youth from Soweto summing up the overwhelmingly
enthusiastic mood at the recent Democratic Socialist Movement (DSM)
refoundation conference held at the University of Durban-Westville (UDW)
on 5-6 October. What is more he came to the conference as a sympathiser
and left it as a member of the DSM.

The conference, held over one and a half days, discussed the world
situation, South African perspectives, and the work of the DSM.
Greetings sent in by eight different parties and organisations
affiliated to the Committee for a Workers’ International were
enthusiastically applauded and brought to life the idea of being part of
an international revolutionary organisation.

Over forty-five people attended the Congress, overwhelmingly young but
with a number of trade unionists and workers present. The fact that the
main contributions at the conference had to be translated into Zulu and
Xhosa gives an indication of the class and racial background of those
attending. The majority of DSM members joined the CWI’s South African
affiliate after coming across its ideas in the Socialist Student
Movement (SSM), the local affiliate of International Socialist
Resistance.

DSM members from seven different townships attended from Gauteng. DSM
members attended from Port Shepstone in Kwa Zulu Natal. One trade union
member came from Cape Town. One of the newest areas of growth in the DSM
– Kwa Zulu Natal and particularly Durban, had a particularly impressive
turnout from three townships and the university.

In the breaks during the conference, DSM members toyi-toyed on the
balconies which bounced with enthusiasm and the stamping of 45 pairs of
feet. One particularly favourite song had a line in it which said, "We
are not in favour of a society in which all the land and wealth are
owned by a few – only socialism can defeat capitalism". Songs like this
were interspersed with slogans against Mbeki, Gear (the neo-liberal
economic policy of the ANC government) and the corrupt black elite.
These are new songs and chants which is no accident. It reflects the
complete change in the political situation in the country where the most
conscious layers of workers and young people are bitterly angry at the
betrayal of the ANC leadership and are moving into action on a whole
number of fronts. The new situation requires new songs for the movement
which although based on the traditions of the anti-apartheid struggle
stress the need for a socialist alternative to capitalism.

There were many questions during the conferences sessions on
international political issues as well as domestic ones. Reflecting the
thirst for ideas amongst township youth, many of those attending wanted
to know how a socialist society would be run; could a socialist country
stand up to threat of imperialism; and what help and aid would a
socialist government in the advanced countries give to the poor masses
of the neo-colonial world. Despite the fact that many DSM members are
extremely new, contributions during the session on South Africa
lacerated the empty rhetoric of the South African Communist Party and
explained theoretically its bankruptcy. This has reached ludicrous
proportions with the SACP leadership explaining that socialists should
make sure they understand that the ANC and the government were two
different things; and that workers’ should not criticise the ANC for
privatisation since this is a government as opposed to an ANC policy!

In many ways the session on organisation showed most clearly the
advances made by the DSM since it was founded three years ago. DSM
members explained the myriad of different campaigns and movements they
have led, which in previous times would only have been carried out by
activists with many more years of experience and much more resources at
their disposal. This phenomenon will be repeated in many countries
internationally as the political situation qualitatively changes.

In Kwa Zulu Natal this has involved DSM and SSM members playing an
important role in building support for a demonstration of 5000 called by
the Concerned Citizens Forum in support of the demand of a R10 basic
charge for water and electricity provision. SSM members at UDW also
fought the banning of their student society by university management and
forced a humiliating climbdown by the vice-Chancellor.

In Gauteng, student members reported on their leading intervention into
the struggle of 600 cleaning workers at Wits University for decent wages
and conditions. A new member from Wits Technicon explained how she had
produced leaflets and organised the beginning of a campaign against the
proposed merger of her college with another white dominated one in
Johannesburg. In the last few days she recruited five new members to the
Socialist Student movement.

The organisation session also agreed the election of a Coordinating
Committee to help the development of the DSM. All those attending the
conference left in extremely high spirits – convinced that a new stage
in the building the forces of Marxism in South Africa had been reached.